Electrically operated musical device



y 1950 J. F. LEONARDSON 2,516,579

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MUSICAL DEVICE Filed Oct. 3, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l ///////////A 27 L I HAPPY BlRTHDAY 4 65% HAP- PY BIRTH-DAY To You, 3 Q Q) O O BlRTH-DAY TO vou, Q Q 0 Q BIRTH-DAY DEAR (sme NAME), 22 Q Q) Q) Q BIRTH-DAY TO YOU.

7 INVENTOR. Fl ca. 3 Joan F. LEOHARDSOH ATTORNEY y 1950 J. F. LEONARDSON 2,516,579

ELECTRICALLY OPERATED MUSICAL DEVICE Filed Oct. 3, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fla. 7

INVENTOR. dorm F. LEOHARDSOH F145,? BY A; @x

ATTORNEY Patented July 25, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE :ELEG R QALIJYO AIED MUSI A DEVI E John F. Leonardson, Milwaukee, 'Wis. Appl atio O to e 2 e 'N 7.,66

16 C a ms- 1 This. invention relates to a musical instrument preferably .inthe form of a toy designed and intended for use by children.

[The-device is simpleand inexpensive in cone struction and operation, ,the latter being elece trical as hereinafter described.

;;In the. latter arrangement, I employ aseries of electromagnets inthe form of solenoids associated .with .x-ylophone bars which when struck or impacted by the armatures of the solenoids producesounds =or tonesascontrolled by .a playing cardor pattern used with the device.

The card has a series of-contaotsin electrical circuits with-the electroemagnets so .the selection -,displayed on thecard may be eas ly and readily played by touching-aselector, alsoin the circuit, with contacts 1 the face of the card to completethe circuits to energize the magnets to sound the bars.

A'further object of my invention is toha-ve the contacts on the card substantially flush or otherwise arranged on thecardso that the selectorl-may be easily and quickly moved over the card from one contact-to .theother without-interruption by any barriers on the card. This facilitates rapid, ea-syand smooth playing of the selectionton the card by words, the latter being printed on-the face of card-adjacent the :contacts.

:A further object of myinvention is to provide the .card with a wiring circuit connecting the contaotson the card with elementson the card to make electrical contact with yieldable con.- tacts on the deviceonplacing the card in playing position on the cabinet or support o f the device.

The invention consists further in the structural features and the combinations thereof here.- inafter. described and claimed.

In its broadest aspect, my invention includes the combination of electrically,operateddevices, a suppQrt having separate contacts thereon,-nne;for each of said devices and connected ;in :electrical circuit therewith, a card member having electrical =c,ontact s andv engageable-. with the contacts on the support on placing -the .card in operative or :playing position .thereon, additional contacts on the car-din circuits with first named cardcontacts, and a selector or equivalent means for completing the circuits or; touching the last named card contacts .for operating said devices.

jIn accompanying drawingsv .-Eig. l is a top plan viewcf a 'toy nusicalinstrumentconstructed in accordance with .my invention:

{Fig 2 is a frontview-of the device;

Fig. 3 isa longitudinal sectionalgviewtaken on 1ine:,3'3 of Fig. '1

Figs. Land a ss a s cti nal mews tak n on es d 5, res ect vely Q .:Fi8-T.

is- 6 s a ran rs s tiona view a isman inefif of Fig. .3;

Fig. 7 is an under side view of one layer ofa playing card or pattern element used with the deviceto, show the. electrical wiring diagram cr nb i d. i th ard;

Fig. 8 i a to pla ie of a a o p t rne sme t showin odi at o o' h ein ter desc i ed;

.F .9 s a view o a i n dia r m usedin t dev e;

.Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on line N11) of Fig- '7;

Fig. l1; shows the musicalnotation of the selection on the card shown in Figs. 1 and 7; and

Fig. 1 2 is a view showing a card wiring 18. rangementforsounding the notes by octaves.

In t drawi g indic tes the ut pa ine or housing of the device generally rectangular in shape and of a size to be readily and easily lifted and carried from place to place as a toy musical instrument by children for whom the device is particularly designed and intended.

The cabinetl ispreferably made of wood, wood veneer or other desired relatively light material asplastic of the appropriate color or color combinations and hollow to have, horizontal, top and bottom walls 2, v3, and upright end walls 4, '5, and irontand rear walls 6, 1, respectively, as shown in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive. The walls are secured together to impart rigidity and strength for the cabinet and to support within the same the respective parts, next being described, to pro.- vide, atoy musical device and the electrical means for operating it.

fipecially, the musical instrument illustrated is ofrthe Xylophone type having a complement of metal tone bars 8, .8 supported within the cabinet .I just below the top wall.,2 on lateralrails 9,-9 .andof .therdesired tone range. In the instance shown, the bars ,8 are in the key .of C andCQmprise on octave from middle C to G next above as .shown in Figs. 4 and 8. The bars 8 arehorizontally disposed and are loosely mounted-onthe rails!) by headed pins ID as shown in, Figs. 3 and 6. The pins lcpass through slightly enlarged apertures .H in the bars and thelatter rest on .feltor cushion pads or strips l2 asdepictedinFig. 6. The end supports l3 for-therails 9 are securedtothe inside of the .walls l, 5 of the cabinet .I .as,herein shown.

Arranged in the cabinet 1 below the Xylophone bars 8 -.for striking .or impacting the same for sounding them is a complement ofelectro-inagnets of the solenoid type Lone .foreach bar .8. The solenoids Mare vertically disposed belowthe bars 8 in azsupporting-structure I'd-having abase rail lfi, secured to the bottom wall13 of the cabin t l thi pac rs H therebe ween.

tively projected upwardly to strike the associated bars 8 with sufficient force to sound them.

On the bottom wall 3 below the solenoid tubes [8 is a cushion means 2| to dampen the downward stroke of the armatures 19 by gravity when the associated solenoids [4 are de-energized as when playing the device. The oppositeends of the tubes l8 are open and the solenoids [4 are in the electrical circuit of the device to be presently described. ,The upper surface of the top wall '2 is horizontally flat or substantially so, or it may be at a slightupward inclination to support a playing card or pattern 22 used with the device when playing a song. or musical selection within the compass of the tone range of the Xylophone bars 8. q This card 22 is placed on the top wall 2 of the cabinet .,I between and. against the upwardly extending relatively short stops or abutments 23 adjacent the front wall 6 of the cabinet and the electrical contacts 214, 2d of the yieldable or spring type secured to the rear wall 1 of the cabinet 'I by a series of fasteners and binding pins, the lat ter being marked 25 and insulated from the wall 1,. one pin 25 for each contact 24 as detailedin Fig. 6.

-The contacts 2d are shielded by a guard housing fifisecured to the rear wall I of the cabinet l and projecting to the desired extent above the top wall 2. The wall portion 21 of the shield 26 overhangs and protects the contacts 24 as shown in On the rear edge. of the card 22 are mounted contacts 28, fillwhich for inexpensiveness of construction, are preferably in the form of metal clips. clamped over the edge of the card 22 in spaced relation along the length of the latter. In Fig. .8 the card 29 is shown as having as many contacts S ll as there are Xylophone bars 8 used in the, device. Or as shown in Fig. '7 there may be on the card only the number of contacts 28 as requiredior the tone range encompassed by the selection on the card; namely, eight as shown in Figs. 'Tand 11.

The clip contacts 28 and 30 are on the edge of the cards opposed to the cabinet contacts 24 to engage the same on placing the card in its playing or usable position on the top wall 2 of the cabinet as shown in Figs; 1 and 6.

Regardless of the particular number of contacts28 used on a card 22, the contacts 28 are in the electrical wiring circuit employed in the card. For example, the card 22 on the cabinet I in Fig. 1 has the selection Happy Birthday to You printed in word symbols in several horizontal rows on the upper or front face of the card. On the, card are a complement of electrical metal contacts 3!, 3! arranged in spaced relation in the several rows in which the song is displayed, one contacttl under or adjacent to each word symbol a s'sh'own in Fig. 1. Hence, the selection on the cams; is played by word and not by note. In this manner of playing the selection the knowledge of notes is not needed and with wording appearing the player and those with him can sing the selection from the words.

4 portion 32 overlays the outer surface of the card with its marginal edges substantially flush with the upper surface of the card as shown in Fig. 10. The purpose of this arrangement will be presently described, p 1 l As shown in Figs. 6 and 10, the card 22 is of double layer construction with the wiring between the two layers 34, 35 as detailed in Fig. 10.

v This wirin is arranged to connect all the contacts 3! for sounding the tones for the selection depicted on the card. For example, in the selection depicted on the card 22, the selection is written in the key of C with a tone range for the octave G to G immediately above middle C. Perhaps to better illustrate the arrangement attention is directed to Figs. '7 and 11.

The clips 28 on the card 22 are connected by wiring in the card to all of the card contacts 3| for the corresponding tones. For example, clip 28, the first to the left for low tone G is connected by wiring 3'5 and 31 to all low G card contacts 3!. nected bythe wiring 38 with all A tone contacts 3! on the card. The clip 28 for B is connected by wiring 39 to all B card contacts 3|. Wiring 40 in the'card connects clip 28 for C with all C card contacts 3! and wiring GE, 32, 43 and 44 connect D to G clips 23 inclusive with corre-' sponding card contacts 3|.

The musical notation for the selection described is shown in Fig. 11 and the notes on the staff are indicated by their letters. These same letters are duplicated on the card contacts 3| in Fig; '7.

Hence, the comparison with these two figures is manifest.

In the modification shown in Fig. 8, the card 29 has a full complement of contacts 45 representing the Xylophone bars 8 mounted in the cabinet l, each contact d5 being wired to one contact 38. With the arrangement shown in Fig.

8 harmony can be produced by using a pair of selector members to be presently described.

For playing the selection on a card, I provide a selector 46 in the form of a rod or pencil having Here the elec-' a ball point 4'! as shown in Fig. 9. trical circuit is shown as comprising leads 48, 49 from the solenoid coil Ell, the lead 58 being connected by a wire 5b with a contact 24, the lead 49 is connected by a wire 5i with one terminal of the secondary 52 of the transformer 53, the primary 5 'i'of the transformer being connected to with a plug 55 which inserted in a wall fixture of a suitable source of current supply. The selector 46- is connected by a wire 55 with the secondary 52 The contact elements 3! on the card are indicated in Fig. 9 and when touched by the selector point 460. completes the circuit of the solenoids M to energize them and sound the tones of the bars 8 struck by the armatures Hi. All the mag-v nets are connected in the electrical circuit I as above described and the solenoids M are individually energized as the selector 45 is moved over the card to touch the contacts 31' thereon.

Touching the contacts 3| in regular order sound the selection on the card. u

The next clip 28 for A is con-' The contact heads 32 being substantially flush with the surface of the card and being crowned or rounded in shape as shown in Fig. 10, the selector point 26d or 41 can be moved quickly and easily without interruption from one card contact to the next. Thus, the selection of the card may be played smoothly or with the time in tervals desired therebetween by the operator. The selector point a is merely slid over the card from one contact to the other and when the contacts 35 are touched the magnets are energized to sound the bars 8 controlled thereby.

A pair of selectors 58, 53 are in the circuit with the magnets and the playing bars for the card 29. This enables two notes or tones to be played at a time and the desired harmony produced. For example, two contacts 35 on the card 29 are touched by the selectors 58 in the hand or hands of the operator.

As a further modification of my invention each contact 59 on the edge of the card 6!! as shown in Fig. 12, controls not only its own tone but an octave thereof. This provides a more solid tone. This arrangement comprises wiring 5| from contact 59 and wiring 62 to octave contact 59a.

The cabinet I has additional guides 93, 63 to th sides of the card as shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

The device shown and described is believed to be novel and enables the operator to play the device at the speed and with skill desired.

The front wall 5 of the cabinet 2 may provide with a sound opening 64 covered by a screen mesh 65 to protect the parts located in the cabinet from contact through said opening.

The details of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described may be variously changed and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, except as pointed out in the annexed claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combinaticn of a series of electrically operated devices, a support having a series of contacts each electrically connected with one of said devices, a replaceable control card having a series of contacts each engageable with certain of said support contacts upon application 0;"- said card to said support, said control card having a second series of contacts arranged in predetermined sequence and each electrically connected to one of said first named card contacts, and a circuit closing selector movable into successive contact with the card contacts of said second series to effect operation of said devices in a sequence predetermined by the sequential arrangement of said last named contacts on said replaceable control card.

2. The combination of a series of electrically operated devices, a support having a series of contacts each electrically connected to one of said devices, a replaceable control card applicable to said support and having a series of contacts thereon, means for positioning said card on said support to effect contact of each of said card contacts with certain of said support contacts, said control card having a second series of contacts arranged in predetermined sequence and each electrically connected to one of said first named card contacts, and a circuit closing selector movable into successive contact with the card contacts of said second series to thereby ef-- fect operation of said devices in a sequence determined by the sequential arrangement of said last named contacts on said replaceable control card.

3. The combination of a series of electrically operated devices for producing tones of different pitch, a support having a series of contacts each electrically connected to one of said devices, a control card replaceably applicable to said support and having a series of contacts respectively engageable with said support contacts upon application of the card to said support, said control card having a second series of contacts arranged in predetermined sequence and each electrically connected to one of said first named card contacts, and a circuit closing selector movable into successive contact with the card contacts of said second series to thereby efiect operation of said devices in a sequence predetermined by the sequential arrangement of said last named card contacts and thus produce the notes of a tune as prescribed by said control card.

4. The combination of a series of electrically operated devices for producing tones of difierent pitch, a support, a replaceable control card adapted for application to said support, said card having the words of a song thereon, said card also having thereon a series of contacts in the same order of arrangement as said words, means rendered effective by application of the card to said support for electrically connecting each of said contacts to certain of said devices, and a circuit closing selector movable into successive contact with said contacts to effect operation of said devices in predetermined order and thereby sound the notes of said song in the same order as the words of the song appearing on said control card.

5. The combination of a series of electrically operated devices, a support having a series of concealed contacts each electrically connected with one of said devices, a replaceable control card for pplication to said support, said card having a series of contacts for respective contact with said. support contacts upon application of said card to said support, said card also having a series of exposed contacts each electrically connected to certain of said first named card contacts, and a circuit closing selector manually operable into successive contact with said exposed contacts to effect operation of said devices in. the order of arrangement of said exposed contacts.

6. The combination of a series of electrically operated devices, a support, a replaceable control card for application to said support, a series of electrical contacts carried by said card, means rendered efiective by application of said card to said support for electrically connecting each of said contacts to certain. of said devices, said means including electrical connections carried by said card. and a circuit closing selector movable into successive contact with said contacts to eiTect operation of said devices in a sequence dependent upon the arrangement of said contacts.

JOHN F. LEONARDSON.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,400,947 Fennell Dec. 20, 1921 2,265,237 Klein Dec. 9, 1941 2,288,455 Howard June 30, 1942 2,442,447 Zadig June 1, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 451,421 Great Britain Aug. 5, 1936 

